people painted as a fool because I stayed with your father when all the world knew that the great Victor Christianson was bedding and laying seed with all the women in Durham.”
“Mother, that’s disgusting,”
“Yes, the hell it is.”
Asia rolled her eyes at her mother. “You’re jealous of Daddy’s success.”
“Listen here, Asia. You can try and disrespect me if you want, but his success was due to me. He was nothing on his own.”
“Why are you talking about him like that, Mother? I don’t understand you.”
“Go sit down,” Brenda said, pointing to the chair Asia had vacated, “and I’m going to explain it so there will be no questions left in your mind.”
Asia stood still for a moment as if contemplating what Brenda had said. Then she turned completely around and plopped into the chair, placing her feet underneath her again. She stared at Brenda as if to say, the clock is ticking. Talk.
Brenda went and sat on the side of her bed, fluffed one of the decorative pillows with her hand, and looked at Asia. “You know that both your father and I loved you and Trevor unconditionally. That’s what parents are supposed to do. You are our children. And in loving you, our job is to protect you from the elements by providing a roof over your head, food to eat, clothes on your back, and anything else to sustain life. And because we could afford to do so, we gave you more. In protecting you, it’s also our job to keep you safe from the predators in the world—drugs, alcohol, and child molesters. In doing so, it may mean we have to protect you from family members or situations that may be detrimental to family survival—I’m sure you get what I mean.”
“Yeah, since you’re talking to me like I’m a ten-year-old.”
Brenda looked at Asia and then dropped her eyes. “This is a sensitive issue for me, Asia. I can treat you as the adult you purport to be, but I’ll break it on down for you if I need to.”
Asia looked up at her mother and smiled. “I’m sorry, Mom. This thing with Daddy…his dying…Nikki…it’s so overwhelming. This kind of stuff happens in other people’s family, not ours. I…I can’t believe it’s happening to my family.”
Brenda got up and rushed to Asia’s side. Asia stood up and fell into her mother’s embrace.
“We will get through this, baby,” Brenda said, rubbing her fingers through Asia’s hair. “We will get through this.”
Then all of a sudden, Asia pulled away. She looked into her mother’s eyes. “Who do you think killed Daddy?”
“That’s the very question I asked myself, Asia. I don’t know how many enemies your father has out there, but he’s done some questionable things in the past week. I have to tell you that I’m almost sure he tried to kill your friend. If I hadn’t seen the gun with my own eyes that day, I might not have believed it. The bullet hole in the wall from where the gun went off last week is proof positive that something wasn’t right.”
“What? Daddy fired a gun in the house?”
“He was mad at something, and the way he tore out of here with that gun in his pocket at least an hour before Afrika was shot only leads me to believe the worst; especially since Mimi had only shared her dark secret the night before.”
“Did you ever love Daddy?”
“Asia, I’ve always loved your father. Maybe too much. There are times when I’ve wondered where my life would’ve been if I hadn’t fallen for Victor Christianson; especially knowing even as far back before we were married that he couldn’t love just one woman and that it might be the death of me. But I had to have him. I was the one who came out on top. Despite all of his other conquests, Brenda won the trophy…He chose me to be his wife.”
Brenda hugged Asia tight. “The greatest gift Victor gave me though was you and Trevor. You don’t know how proud you both have made me.”
Asia returned the hug and squeezed Brenda tight. “I love you, Mom. You’re right; we’ll get through this. I’ve never said this to you before, but here goes. I want to be just like you.”
“Asia, you are a smart, beautiful young lady who will aspire to do great things. You will make your own mark in the world and will do it well. Know that your proud mother will always be near, cheering you on.